1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a malfunction detection apparatus and method utilized to detect a malfunction of a battery pack constituted by connecting in series a plurality of cells and, more specifically, it relates to an apparatus and method for detecting a disconnection occurring at the line between a given cell and a detection terminal connected to either of the two terminals of the cell.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a method in the known art adopted in an apparatus that includes detection terminals each connected to either of the two terminals of a given cell constituting a battery pack and detects an overcharge or an over-discharge occurring at the cell based upon the voltage between the two detection terminals connected to the cell (see Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. 2001-157367). In this method for detecting a defective connection, discharge circuits connected to the individual cells are first shorted over a predetermined length of time and then are opened, and if the voltage in the opened state is substantially equal to the voltage in the shorted state at any cell, it is determined that the connection between the cell and the corresponding detection terminal is defective.